I recognize me
before I recognize you.
Before the glance
lingers too long.
Before chemistry
begins making promises
it has not yet earned.
Before possibility
puts on its finest clothes
and attempts
to persuade the heart.
I know my cadence now.
I know the luminous language
of my spirit,
the cogency of my intuition,
and the discernment
that arrives quietly
before desire
has time to embellish
the truth.
I have spent too much time
returning to myself
to become antiquated
inside my own life.
Love should bring vitality.
It should not leave me
despondent,
searching the mirror
for the woman
who was standing there
before you arrived.
So before I become enamored
with the architecture of you,
I return
to the sanctuary of me.
I ask:
Does my spirit exhale here?
Does my body soften?
Do I still recognize
my own laughter,
my own rhythm,
my own light?
Because attraction
can be beguiling.
Longing can make
almost anything
sound plausible.
And loneliness, beloved,
has been known
to arrive beautifully dressed,
wearing excellent perfume
and impeccable timing.
But discernment
has no interest
in theatrics.
It does not appease.
It does not embellish.
It simply knows.
So yes,
I can admire you.
I can desire you.
I can let tenderness
move through the room
and still remain
intimate with myself.
That is integrity.
That is regality.
That is the quiet audacity
of a woman
who has become acquainted
with the sacredness
of her own soul.
If you come closer,
come with candor.
Come consistently.
Come without the fallacies
that make confusion
look romantic.
Bring a presence
that can meet mine
without asking either of us
to become smaller.
Because I recognize me
before I recognize you.
My spirit knows
its own signature.
My body knows
the difference
between excitement
and peace.
My heart has acquired
enough wisdom
to know that the two
should eventually meet.
And if one day
I choose you,
it will not be because
you rescued me
from some despondent corner
of myself.
It will be because
I was already standing
in my own light,
whole,
clear,
and beautifully awake,
when I looked at you
and realized:
I still recognize myself
with you standing here.
And perhaps
that is love
at its most exquisite,
when I can see you clearly
without ever
losing sight
of me—
© 2026 Sherley Delia. All rights reserved.
